Quebec’s Human Rights Tribunal has ruled the Public Security Ministry discriminated against a man who was facing a criminal charge, and has awarded him $13,000 for lost wages and other damages.

In 2009, the man was forbidden from working at a construction site at the Percé prison in the Gaspésie region because he was deemed a security risk.

The prison, which is an institution for people who have committed sexual crimes, was closed for renovations at the time.

The man, an employee at a flooring company that was under contract with the Public Security Ministry, was told he couldn’t work on the prison site because of a marijuana possession charge against him. The charge was eventually dropped.